Of Summer Camp And Love
by Ihopeyougetanosebleed
Summary: Berwald meets a wonderful boy at summer camp. Tino thinks they are perfect. Berwald looses contact. Tino looses touch. There is always the chance of coming back as CITs, though...
1. Chapter 1

Berwald never understood why his mother made him go to camp. She knew that he was not very socially inclined and that he would rather be at home, delving into paper worlds of halcyon and adventure. It was crazy.

Alright. Fine. Not that crazy. It was one week in the summer, not too much of a big deal.

Still. One week with strangers and other twelve-year-olds. All of those twelve-year-olds acting more their age than Berwald did. He knew his mother meant well, though. So he might as well endure it and not complain. As if he did complained.

"Be good, okay?" His mother kissed his forehead.

"Är jag någonsin inte bra?" he asked, raising and eyebrow at her.

His mother smiled, "And remember to use your English. You're very good, but we need to catch you up so we can send you to real school."

This year he was going to start real American school, instead of homeschooling with his mother. Coincidentally, this camp was partly advertised for transitioning kids who had just emigrated from other countries to the U.S.

Though he did see a few American kids running around, clumsily

"Well, I gotta go. Have fun, sötnos." She kissed him once again and gave him a small hug, "I love you."

"L've y' t'."

His mother left and Berwald stared at the door of his cabin. Two boys were sitting on a bottom bunk, talking quietly. The other was actually doing somersaults _off the top bunk_. And he wasn't breaking his face. Yet.

"Oi! Mathias, stop it. I don't wanna clean your blood up." A counselor emerged from the bathroom during the third jump, catching the kid in midair. Mathias giggled almost maniacally and the counselor put him down, petting the top of his head. He looked up and noticed Berwald.

"Hey, kid. What's up?" The counselor gave the sweeping arm of invitation. Berwald walked in slowly, looking around the cabin a bit more. There were two bunks, plus a nice double bed and a cot. The bed and cot were separated from the actual camper part of the room by half of a wooden wall.

The counselor smiled at him, "You must be Berwald Oxen-stare-naah."

The butchery of his last name was dismissed, because one of the boys on the bottom bunk was staring at him really intensely. Like, he was staring into his soul and thought that a devil was going to burst forward and inform him of the exact coordinates of to where he could find the mangled and twisted heart of Davey Jones.

He nodded vaguely and slung his bag onto the last empty bunk, not breaking eye contact with the boy. He was so creepy. The friend he was sitting next to him got up. He climbed onto the bunk above Berwalds, glaring at him slightly.

"Don't mind him, he's sour." Said Mathias, smiling brightly.

Um. Okay?

"Shush, Mathias." The counselor sat on a raggedy carpet on the middle of the floor, "C'mon guys. This is everyone, so proper introductions. HEY, HERC. GET IN HERE."

"I prefer 'Your Royal Demi-God Sir'." A teenager lead in four more boys.

"No, Herc. Only counselors get cool nicknames." Said the counselor. The teenage boy sat next to him, "Yeah, like yours is _sooo_ cool. C'mon, boys. Sit down!"

The four obediently sit. Creepy-Eyes and Mathias follow suit. Sour plops down next to Mathias, glaring at him. Finally, when he feels a little less awkward, Berwald sits by an enthusiastic blonde boy with glasses.

"Okay, here we go." Said the counselor "This is Herc" he gestures to the teenager "and you can call me….Goop." he gave them a second to laugh at this "I know it's funny. I get the laughter. So, let me just give you the rap. I'm the counselor, Herc is the C.I.T. We have two different cabins, but the eight of you are under our wing. Wings. Herc'll be taking more care of the ones in the next door cabin. I'll be handling you other boys. We'll switch around a bit, but that's basically it!"

"And now," Herc said "We shall be introducing ourselves. Let's start over here." He nodded the younger boy sitting next to him.

"Um…I'm Mathew." He said very, very quietly. He did not continue, just stared at the floor. The boy next to him, who had enormous eyebrows, coughed and straightened his back, "I'm Arthur. I'm from England. Don't make fun of my eyebrows."

"Duly noted." Said Goop "Next?"

"Uh…I'm Tino." Berwald looked at the boy speaking. He was sitting straight across from him in the circle, with big blue eyes. "I am from Finland."

"I am Ivan." Eee-van, not eye-vin. "Russia."

"Mathias from Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenmark! Whoo!" he pumped his fist and Sour glared at him again.

"Lukas from Norway." He said, tucking a piece of long hair behind an ear.

"Wow, we got a lot of Nordics." Herc mentions, turning to Berwald.

"B'rw'ld. Sw'd'n." he said quietly

Tino smiled brightly at him. Had he smiled like that for everyone else? Berwald wondered how a smile could seem to matter like that.

"And I am Alfred F. Jones, from good ol' U-S-A! Welcome to _my _country! Also, Mathew is my brother, but he lives in Canada. The hat of the U.S." The enthusiastic boy gets more enthusiastic as he starts talking more about America. Talk about pride.

"Okay, cool! We're gonna go down for dinner now. You can sit with whoever you like during mealtimes, by the way." Goop said "But remember to be nice to the girls!"

"And other boys." Herc added

"Yes, and other boys. Then we have capture the flag in the field. Ready? Okay, lets go!"

They filed out of the cabin. Alfred and Mathew walked together, Alfred chattering and Mathew listening. Mathias walked behind then, occasionally contributing something. Lukas was walking slowly with Arthur, quietly. Ivan followed them and Tino followed him.

Berwald was at a loss. How did making friends work again?

"Hey! Berwald, you wanna sit with me at dinner?" Tino asked, falling back into stride with him.

Oh. That's right. Be nice. Say something interesting. Be eloquent.

"Mhm."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi, sorry that took a while. Schools out, so I'll try to be more on it. This chapter is shorter, since it's a sort of summing up deal. Thanks to you who followed/faved/reviewed!**

**Oh, little headcannon. Berwalds speech only gets kinda mumbled when he's talking to someone new, or is nervous.**

The week was a lot more fun than he had expected. It was Saturday morning half a day until leaving. He had been there for the week, but he felt like he had spent weeks and weeks with these kids.

And Berwald actually was enjoying it. Very much.

Everyone seemed to get along quite well. Arthur and Lukas seemed to share an interest in things involving magic, Mathew was quiet but interesting, Ivan was a bit creepy but nice enough and Mathias and Alfred got along with everyone. And Tino. Tino seemed to like Berwald the most.

This made him quite confused but no less happy. Because Berwald liked Tino better too.

It was a break time and Tino had lead Berwald to one of the picnic tables. He sat on the table with his feet on the seat part. Berwald sat next to him and they spent about half an hour just observing the other kids. Alfred was arguing with Arthur and some girl—also from England—about the different meanings of English words in other countries.

"So, Ber." Said Tino, picking some daisies out of the mossy table, "How do I contact you after we've left?"

"I d'nno."

"Well, you wanna, right?"

"'Course."

"Ok, do you have a phone?"

Berwald shook his head. Tino looped some daisies together and started to make a chain, "Ok, so I'll give you _my _phone number and then you call me when you get your home phone, kay?"

"Mhmm."

Tino tied the chain off and put it on Berwalds head. He started making another one, "Don't lose it, kay? Don't lose it."

Berwald wasn't sure if he was talking about the daisy chain or the number but he promised not to lose both.

"Berwald!" he was smothered by his mother in a hug "Oh, it's been a week without you, I missed you."

"I m'ssed you too."

"You wanna go out to eat? Let's go out to eat."

"Wait a m'nute. I gotta go do something."

"Alright, I'll get your bag."

Berwald gave her a squeeze and then sprinted back up to the cabin.

"Hey! Are you leaving? Come hug me!" Mathias talked a mile a minute, as usual, attacking Berwald into a hug. Berwald lifted his arms half-heartedly, but smiled slightly. When Mathias let go the other boys came over to say goodbye.

"See yah 'round, kid." Goop ruffled his hair.

"Have a nice school year." Herc winked and went back to packing up his sheets.

"Call me, okay?" Tino slipped the bit of paper into the top pocket of Berwalds shirt.

"Okay."

"Promise?"

He nodded and hugged the smaller boy, "Promise."

Berwalds mother had decided to take him out for late lunch when they were driving home. They stopped at some American greasy spoon. She said it was a cultural experience.

"So did you have fun?" she asked, dipping a greasy chip—french fry—into some ketchup.

"Mhmm." He took a huge bite of a scary looking burger.

"Make any friends?"

"Ja." He smiled faintly "Mycket mer än jag trodde."

"What?" she raised her eyebrows.

Berwald rolled his eyes, "Much more than I thought."

"That's good. Will you want to go back next year?"

"Ja."

"So did you get any contact information? Maybe some of these kids live near us?"

Berwald took Tino's number out of his pocket. He put it on the table.

"Only one?" she asked

"That's the most important one."

She smiled, "Got a girlfriend?"

Berwald blushed furiously, "No. That's Tino's number. He is a boy."

"So a boyfriend then?"

"Mama!"

"I'm just teasing you. C'mon, we should get back on the road."

Berwald shook his head, blushing ferociously, "I'm going to go to the bathroom."

"Alright, I'll be in the car." His mum said.

When Berwald came back he zipped back to the table to get the phone number.

"Oh no." the table had been cleared. Berwald caught one of the waitresses, "W's there a sl'p 'f p'nk pap'r on the t'ble?"

"Sorry, sweetheart, I didn't clean up. We're actually about to close. Loretta was cleanin', you can ask her." She pointed outside to a lady getting into a garish car.

"Th'nks." He sprinted outside but the gaudy car was already screeching away.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Frack, I'm bad at updating, I'm sorry. **

"Hey, Berwald, right!?" a boy with spiky blonde hair grinned in his face, "How's it been going? You remember me, right? Mathias?"

Berwald nodded. He thought he looked familiar.

"So where yah been? You didn't come back any other summer!" Mathias asked

"Uh…I was visiting my father during the summer. No time." He answered

"Too bad, man. You were on of the only non-returning ones. Glad you're here now, though. Come say hi to everyone!"

"I gotta go sign in…." Berwald said. Mathias gave him an okay and bounded off, skidding to a stop next to….was that Lukas? Wow, he looked really grown up and….girlish. He looked around, heart jumping. No luck.

Berwald walked into the main building, nodding to every person he met, most of which he hadn't seen in four years. All the girls had developed into fine young ladies, puberty doing wonders, big and…extreme.

As for the boys, well. Berwald tried not to think too much about the boys.

"Hey! You! It's you!"

"Oh, wow. Herc. Hello."

"All grown up and sixteen, huh? Glad you came to be a Counselor In Training. Ah, I remember the days." Herc said

Berwald lifted the corners of his mouth slightly, "Good to see you're now a counselor. Where do I sign in?"

"Just go back there. Good ol' Goop will take care of you. Or Celery. I think they're back there."

"IF I HEAR YOU CALL ME CELERY ONE MORE TIME I WILL KICK YOU OUT." A woman shouted from the office.

"Sorry, Sis!" Herc called.

Berwald gave a small wave and headed into the office.

"Hey, there." A woman greeted him "I'm the director, Celes. Just sign in here." She handed him a clipboard with the CIT sign in sheet. He skimmed over the names and was surprised to find that most of the kids he was at camp with when he was twelve were here as CITs.

"Hey, Berwald." Goop said "Good to see you back after all those years. I never forget a camper."

"Hullo. Are you still a counselor?"

"Gupta is my underling." Said Celes, winking.

"Co-director. And for your information, Cel, it's Goop. Which reminds me," He looked back to Berwald "You're gonna need to think of a nickname. It's not necessary, but it adds to camp spirit. Plus the kids like it."

Celes rolled her eyes, "Yeah, apparently I'm going to be called Celery. The uncreativity of that hurts my soul." She took the sheet "Well, it looks like you're the last first one. We'll gather everyone up in ten minutes. Got that Goop?"

"Sha. Ten minutes." He nodded "Berwald, you can go back outside and mingle or whatever."

Social skills. Fun.

"Hey! What's up! Are you new?"

"I was here one year. Alfred, yeah?"

"Yeah!" Alfred wore the biggest smile "Sorry I don't remember you. I just know so many people it's hard to keep up."

"Berwald." He put his hand out and Alfred shook it vigorously, making it feel like his hand was going to fall off.

"Cool. Well, I think the hot Greek lady is calling us all up. Let's go!"

The group of teenagers ambled over to the main building, where Celes was standing on a stump with a megaphone.

"WHATS UP! HELLO! ALRIGHT, SO FIRST OFF THERE ARE THREE OF YOU WHO ARE NOT HERE. DON'T PANIC, THEY'RE COMING HERE WHEN THE KIDS DO, SO IN TWO WEEKS." She yelled through the megaphone "BASICALLY WHAT WE'RE GOING TO BE DOING IS GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER DURING THESE TWO WEEKS, ON A LESS ELEMENTARY LEVEL. WE'LL ALSO BE, WELL, TRAINING YOU." She tittered lightly "IN A FEW MINUTES WE'LL ASIGN YOU TO CABINS AND COUNSELORS AND YOU CAN GET SETTLED. AT FIVE WE'RE GOING TO PLAY SOME GAMES AND THEN HAVE DINNER. MORE DETAILS TO COME TOMORROW. RIGHT NOW ALL THE GIRLS NEED TO LINE UP INFRONT OF ME AND GUYS INFRONT OF GUPT-GOOP. Boys does include you, Feliks." She said to a….boy standing near her. "OKAY. GO!"

The clump arranged itself into two not-so-parallel lines. Berwald found himself next to Lukas and some guy with long blonde hair.

"Hey." Said Lukas

"'Lo." Berwald replied

"Mathias told me you came back. But frankly, I don't remember you at all." He looked at Berwald skeptically "But it's nice to see you're not crazy or enthusiastic like all the others."

"Crazy?" the boy on his other side butted in "I think that is a tad extreme. Although, crazy boys are hot….Francis." he stuck his hand out "And you are?"

"Lukas." He didn't take the hand "Are you French? Are you really Francis from France?"

"Oui." He winked "It is quite unfortunate, but I like my name and my country. What about you?"

"B'rw'ld." He coughed "Berwald."

"Good to meet you, Berwald."

"Do you know who the others are? The ones that aren't here until the first campers come to stay?" Berwald asked

"No." Replied Francis "You could ask one of the counselors. Why? Expecting someone?" He waggled his eyebrows and was met with two blank stares "Wow, tough crowd."

"Hey, Francis." Goop said. They were at the front of the line now. "You're with Allistor, over there. Berwald, you're with SQ. Same with you, Lukas."

"Ugh. Why do you break us up like this every year? I'm always with Mathias!" Lukas whined

"Don't whine. It's not my fault," Goop said and then threw a wink over at Mathias, "But seriously, I think the CIT grouping turned out basically like which cabins you've always been in. Tino'll be with you when he comes back, too."

"What?"

"Tino. He's coming back."

**A/N: The next chapter is going to be more of a filler, but I hope you'll enjoy it. It's how all the different countries-teens-people are interacting. GET EXCITED YEAH.**


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